The tournament, which will be played without spectators, is scheduled to run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the U. S. Open tennis tournament will held on its scheduled dates starting in late August as part of the state’s reopening from shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The U. S. Tennis Association had decided to go forward with its marquee event in New York City without spectators, pending an OK from the state.
“We’re excited about the U. S. Open, (which) is going to be held in Queens, Aug.31 through Sept.13. It will be held without fans, but you can watch it on TV – and I’ll take that,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing in Albany. “The tennis authorities are going to be taking extraordinary precautions, but that’s going to take place.”
Like many sports leagues, the professional tennis tours have been suspended since March because of the COVID-19 outbreak, wiping out more than 40 events around the globe.
The U. S. Open normally is each season’s fourth and final Grand Slam tournament but would be the second of 2020, following the Australian Open, which concluded in early February.
The French Open was postponed from May and currently is scheduled to start a week after the U. S. Open ends. Wimbledon was canceled altogether for the first time since World War II in 1945.
